Palestinians escalate hunger strike in Israel jails

May 11, 2012|Reuters

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, May 11 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinians on hungerstrike in Israeli jails said on Friday they would shun vitaminsupplements and prison clinics in an escalation of their massprotest against detention conditions.

"We swear we will not retreat. We are potential martyrs.Either we live in dignity or die," prisoner organisers said in aletter announcing the move and which was read out by IsmailHaniyeh, head of the Islamist Hamas government in the GazaStrip, during a demonstration.

An estimated 1,600 inmates out of 4,800 launched the hungerstrike on April 17 to demand improved conditions in Israelicustody, such as an end to solitary confinement and more familyvisits. They have also challenged Israel's policy of indefinitedetention without charge of suspected Palestinian militants.

The fate of the hunger strikers has touched a raw nerveamong Palestinians, with daily support rallies in the occupiedWest Bank and Gaza, and political leaders warning that Israelcould face new violence should any prisoner die.

Dozens of Palestinians, including militants and politicianswho had served terms in Israeli jails in the past, have gone onhunger strikes in tents put up in solidarity in the West Bankand Gaza Strip, which witnessed daily heavy attendence byresidents and visitors from Arab and foreign countries.

The prisoners include Islamists from Hamas and IslamicJihad, which reject peace with the Jewish state, as well asmembers of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular andWestern-backed Fatah movement.

Israel says all prisoners receive adequate medicalattention, including in civilian hospitals if required.

A Prisons Service spokeswoman said there was no immediatesign of the hunger strike being stepped up.

"As of now, I know that those who should be receiving extracare are receiving it," the spokeswoman, Sivan Weizman, said.

Two inmates who helped launch the hunger strike, Bilal Diaband Thaer Halahla of Islamic Jihad, were in the 74th day oftheir fast on Friday.

Anat Litvin of Physicians for Human Rights in Israel quotedHalahleh's doctor as saying his death could be imminent.

"What is very worrisome is the fact that he said that hedoesn't want to be saved if something happens to him and heloses consciousness," Litvin said, adding that the PrisonsService's medical facilities might prove inadequate.

"They don't have the equipment, they don't have theexpertise; constant follow-up that is very much needed is notavailable," she told Reuters Television in Tel Aviv.